(Cricket news) West Indies defeated Sri Lanka by three wickets in a close contest at Diamond Oval in Kimberley. This was their third successive victory in the U19 Cricket World Cup. West Indies won with three wickets to spare, after reaching the target on the third delivery of the last over, needing 232 to win.

Opting to bat Sri Lanka did not get off to the start they wanted. They lost 3 wickets inside the first 10 overs of the game. Waduge along with Kalupahana tried to steady the ship for the Lankas, however, West Indies ran through the middle order to leave Sri Lanka reeling at 134/6 at one stage. Tharupati played a valuable knock down the order to take Sri Lanka to a respectable total of 231/10 in their 50 overs

Chasing not a very big total, West Indies got off to good start. They lost a couple of wickets but were back on track thanks to Steve Wedderburn’s 61 and his 86-run stand with Jordan Johnson. The Sri Lankan bowlers however did not let West Indies go away with the game that easily as they reduced them to 184/6.

However, Nathan Sealy and Tarrique Edward’s unbeaten 26-run partnership for the eighth wicket guaranteed the Caribbean team a safe escape.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 231 in 50 overs (Dinura Kalupahana 53, Malsha Tharupathi 42; Raneico Smith 4-47) ; West Indies 232/7 in 49.3 overs (Steve Wedderburn 61, Jordan Johnson 39; Vishwa Lahiru 2-32)

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